Editorial: Downtown parking ideas could benefit merchants

Several of Puyallup city staff’s ideas to decrease parking woes in the downtown core aren’t likely to solve the Sounder parking problem, but that really wasn’t the intention.

The proposals – such as permit parking and creating loading zones – are meant to make downtown merchants more comfortable. It’s something the city has attempted to address in the past when they designated three-hour parking along Meridian to keep commuters from taking over downtown.

City staff meant well, but it became a case of the cure being worse than the disease. Suddenly merchants and their employees had to move their cars every three hours or risk getting a ticket. For some, that meant having to close up shop while trying to find a new parking spot.

Their new suggestions will come before the council later this summer and look as though they would be positive moves for the city. For starters, creating permit parking would allow shop owners and employees to park without the hassle of moving their vehicles every few hours while still keeping Meridian open for shoppers rather than commuters. Even if the city decides to charge a fee for the luxury of not having to play the parking shuffle, it would benefit the merchants. Designated loading zones in front of businesses like Pioneer Bakery, which gets a lot of in-and-out traffic, would also be helpful for everyone involved.

They are suggestions the city council should seriously consider when they get the opportunity.